OMRON’s Health Management Declaration and related activities
Basic Policy
Employee Health Management
The OMRON Group unveiled the declaration and program in light of a long-held commitment to solving social issues by putting the OMRON Principles into practice. The Group considers it is essential to maintain the vitality and enhance the potential of diverse talents to drive ongoing innovation that addresses the challenges of a fast-changing world.
The OMRON Group regards employees’ health maintenance and improvement as indispensable for the development of the Group as well, and thus formulated “Employee Health and Productivity Management* Declaration”.
OMRON aims to be a pioneer in creating social needs, and the health of our employees is accordingly fundamental to our business. We OMRON Group will unite to do our utmost to create positive working environments full of smiles and vitality so all of our people can innovate to solve various social issues.
President and CEO
Our health and productivity management activity policy consists of three axes.
The first is to foster innovative people and organizations. We endeavor to create environments that encourage a positive attitude in taking on challenges and that make work rewarding and enjoyable.
The second is to foster states of mental and physical health for employees to enjoy their lives. We encourage employees to lead health-conscious lifestyles and enjoy not only their work, but also their personal hobbies and community activities.
The third is to fill the company with employees who will continue to be active in society, even after they graduate from OMRON. If these employees maintain and improve their health, they will remain active in the future and lead fulfilling lives while contributing to society.
OMRON has been promoting the health and well-being of its employees companywide with the aim of reducing future health risks. OMRON's health and productivity management initiatives will continue to evolve into human capital management aimed at improving human creativity*. It is a transformation from practicing traditional health promotion to building a foundation for each individual to continue to fulfill his or her potential. OMRON actively invests in human resources who take on the challenge of solving new social issues and creating value and creates environments in which each employee can continue to utilize his or her diverse and versatile personality and abilities to the fullest extent.
In our pursuit of health and productivity management, we created a health and productivity management strategy map to identify health issues that will lead to the solutions for management issues. We will incorporate these issues into measures and specific initiatives. By clarifying our health and productivity management strategy and story in this way, we enhance the effectiveness of our initiatives.
The specific activities of us at the OMRON Group for employee health are based on annual goals and plans. The Board of Directors monitors and supervises these goals and plans based on reports of content and progress.
The division responsible for health and productivity management works with professionals such as industrial physicians and industrial health staff. The division also coordinates with the health insurance association to resolve issues to achieve the targets across the entire organization.
In order to accelerate these health and productivity management initiatives, we have established unique standards*1 for the placement of industrial physicians, nursing staff, counselors, and other occupational health staff that surpass those mandated in laws and regulations, and have put in place a detailed health management service they can respond to the needs of every employee.
Additionally, employee health information is consolidated in a health management system*2 which lets medical staff, health supervisors, and leaders assigned to each division share information necessary for their roles.
In promoting health and productivity management, OMRON has established its own company-wide Boost 5 indicators, which are not limited to disease prevention and improvement, but are also directly linked to a fulfilling life in which employees can fully concentrate in the workplace and enjoy their personal lives. Boost 5 refers to (1) exercise, (2) sleep, (3) mental health, (4) food, and (5) tobacco (stop smoking), all of which are essential for improving concentration and performance.
In order to increase the number of employees who can achieve even one additional indicator, we are promoting the Boost 5 initiative both in terms of events aimed at spreading the Boost 5 concept and in terms of creating an environment in which employees can link it to healthy behavior without requiring any special attention. As a result, the level of penetration of health and productivity management within the company has steadily increased, exceeding 90% for the entire the Group.
OMRON has established themes to focus on during each fiscal year in order to achieve each of the Boost 5 indicator targets. The results for Boost 5 achievement show a decreasing trend in the percentage of individuals who achieve the food indicator (BMI 18.5 to less than 25). In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in remote work and lifestyle changes resulting from people voluntarily choosing to stay home. As a result, there was a sharp increase in obesity cases in 2020, and this upward trend has continued. For this reason, in fiscal 2022, we focused on the theme of food and implemented initiatives aimed at eliminating stay-at-home weight gain.
A total of 2,469 employees participated in online seminars conducted by in-house nurses on the topics of improving diet and maintaining proper weight. A total of 26 seminars were held from May to July, covering topics that were combined with Boost 5 indicators. These topics included reviewing nutrition and eating behavior, metabolic acceleration training, and the relationship between obesity and sleep, which were combined with Boost 5 indicators. In each session, different nurses interacted with participating employees and gave them health tips that could be put into practice immediately. The final session was led by the chief occupational physician, who taught about diet methods. The results of the participant survey (67% response rate) indicated that 95% of respondents were satisfied with the seminars and 80% said they could improve their behavior, indicating a certain level of effectiveness. After the conclusion of the seminars, an archived stream was made available to enable more employees to watch.
To maintain an appropriate weight and prevent obesity, we promoted measures for continuous exercise in daily life along with a review of dietary habits. We published radio calisthenics videos and held weight training seminars online to provide employees with exercise options that they could engage in despite a continuance of the stay-at-home lifestyle that includes teleworking and limited travel outside the house. Furthermore, to create an environment that facilitates employee participation in Om-Walk (Om as in OMRON), an in-house walking event that has traditionally been held as an employee health promotion activity, we introduced a new app and worked to make exercise a habit (there were a total of 2,144 participants).
In addition to efforts to improve dietary habits and promote exercise, we implemented a wide variety of initiatives aimed at addressing obesity and maintaining a healthy weight. These included a weight measurement challenge event sponsored by the health insurance association, and the display of Boost 5 health awareness posters. As a result, the percentage of obese individuals, which had been rising year after year, decreased by 0.1 points, indicating a flattening of the trend. The achievement rate of dietary indicators also increased by 0.3 percentage points, indicating an improving trend.
For the evaluation of Boost 5, we incorporate indicators such as employee health and performance from a business operations perspective and analyze and evaluate the relationship between them. As shown in the graph, employees who achieve more of the five Boost 5 indicators tend to be in better health and aware of their high performance. This trend has remained consistent every year since we implemented the health and productivity management initiative.
Furthermore, when we analyzed high-performing and highly work-engaged employees based on their utilization of health promotion initiatives, it was found that the group that responded that they actively use the knowledge gained from the various Boost 5 initiatives in their work and health promotion tended to demonstrate a higher percentages of high performance and work engagement.
Boost 5's health promotion efforts have been implemented by selecting focus themes for each fiscal year, and the number of employees achieving the target indicators has been increasing year by year.
Then, each fiscal year, we review our health and productivity management initiatives and publish results and future challenges on our internal health and productivity management website in order to raise employee health awareness. In addition, the achievement status for Boost 5 indicators is relayed back to each employee, and employees who achieve all indicators are recognized as health practitioners who are known as Boost 5 Meisters.
Focus Themes | FY2019: Tobacco |
FY2020: Exercise |
FY2021: Mental Health |
FY2022: Food |
---|---|---|---|---|
Major Initiatives | ●Smoking banned throughout the company ●Quit smoking marathon |
●Promote the spread of radio calisthenics ●Online fitness |
●Self-care practice event ●E-learning |
●Online seminars ●Weigh-in challenge |
In order to make our initiatives more effective, OMRON uses data gathered over time to verify the relationship between the effectiveness of Boost 5 health measures and the improvement status of issues it wants to solve through health and productivity management.
We found that the group that continued to achieve three or more Boost 5 indicators across all organizations for the past five years (2018-2022) had a healthy age in 2021 that was about three years younger than their actual age. Compared to the group with two or fewer Boost 5 achievement indicators, health age also tended to be significantly lower than actual age.
For Health and Productivity Management Boost 5 measures, we are evaluating results and verifying effectiveness, identifying new issues, and promoting initiatives through the PDCA cycle. Based on the historical trends of Boost 5, we have recognized that the achievement rate for exercise has remained below half and is a reason for concern. In fiscal 2023, we are emphasizing the importance of "exercise" and implementing initiatives that promote and improve the ability to maintain healthy behaviors.
In an effort to create a workplace that supports both physical and mental health, all group companies in Japan conduct organizational assessments and workplace interviews based on various health checkups and stress checks, as well as activities to improve the workplace environment with the support of the occupational health staff.
OMRON Corporation has maintained a 100% rate of regular health checkups since initiating its health and productivity management program. Thanks to Boost 5 initiatives and encouragement from medical professionals, employees are more aware of their health and we have seen improvement in various indicators of health and productivity management, such as the participation rate in additional follow-up medical examinations and participation in specific health guidance. We aim to further increase the screening rate of follow-up examinations from fiscal 2023 by strengthening cooperation among the human resources department, health insurance unions, and medical professionals, as well as by encouraging employees from the management side.
In addition to the conventional medical examination recommendations by medical staff, Group (Japan) efforts by department heads and personnel to encourage medical examinations resulted in an 81.1% rate of full medical examinations, a significant increase of +21.4 points compared with the previous fiscal year.
Company efforts to create an environment conducive to medical examinations include clear statements of our health management philosophy and our intention to encourage the physical and mental health of employees in employment regulations. We also strive to ensure each employee receives a medical examination during working hours through careful communication with department managers. These efforts and others contributed to the increase in the medical examination rates.
FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | |
---|---|---|---|
Percentage receiving periodic medical checkups | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Percentage receiving follow-up medical checkups | 37.0% | 53.5% | 60.8% |
Participation rate in specific health guidance (Employees that attended the initial interview) | 61.2% | 67.0% | 66.2% |
Completion rate of specific health guidance | 54.9% | 62.1% | ― |
OMRON engages in workplace stress management to prevent mental health-related stress among employees.
As a result of these efforts, OMRON Corporation stress check results for fiscal 2023 indicated a decrease in highly stressed employees from 7.0% in the previous year to 6.1%. At the same time, the percentage of employees with high work engagement increased, indicating upward improvements in workplace environments. We will continue efforts to prevent mental health issues, creating healthy workplaces full of smiles and enthusiasm.
In April 2020, we at the OMRON Group (Japan) institutionalized a no-smoking policy during working hours (including lunch breaks) in accordance with employment regulations. In preparation for this company-wide non-smoking policy, we have been engaged in gradual workplace environment changes at every work location since fiscal 2019. In addition, as a measure to support smoking cessation and in cooperation with health insurance societies, we held a company-wide anti-smoking event, the Smoking Cessation Marathon.
Even after a company-wide smoking ban, we have continued with measures to support smoking cessation, mainly through our health insurance association. As a result, the company-wide smoking rate has been declining steadily, recording 15.7% as of July 2022.
To improve health literacy for health issues specific to women, we held an online seminar to support working women's health with the cooperation of the OMRON Health Insurance Association (Held February-March 2023: 270 participants). In addition to conducting basic seminars on the topic of menopause, we organized panel discussions led by gynecologists to give participants an opportunity to receive specific advice from doctor in response to their questions and concerns. A questionnaire survey after the seminar (response rate: 79%), showed that almost all respondents were satisfied with the seminar (97%) and answered that they could use the information learned there for self-care (97%).
A total of 10 online health seminars were held in fiscal 2022 for employees aged 56-59 and their spouses/partners (a total of 556 employees participated). The seminars focused on maintaining and improving healthy behaviors and achieving a healthy and fulfilling life in the future. We aggregated the results of preliminary self-checks on three aspects of health (physical, mental, and social), including physical fitness tests, Boost 5, and well-being questionnaires. During the seminars, we provided feedback to participants and shared common challenges and strategies to improve each aspect of health. From the results of the participants' questionnaire (with a response rate of 93%), the most frequent comments related to an awareness of declining physical fitness and the desire to engage in exercise. The seminars received a 4.3 rating for comprehensibility and 4.1 for satisfaction on a 5-point scale.
In the OMRON Group (Japan), employees are required to report infectious diseases as a part of day-to-day health management, and thus prevent workplace outbreaks through awareness-raising activities regarding their prevention.
Additionally, we have decided upon Global New Infectious Disease Control Guidelines as a Group. In the event of new strains of influenza and other diseases that could pose a serious health hazard to the lives of employees and their families, we will respond using these guidelines.
In response to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, a group-wide task force was quickly established. In response to laws, policies, directives, and guidance by the governments of each country, we have implemented telecommuting instructions and controlled the number of employees coming to work while fulfilling our responsibility to supply products and services. We extended the same requests to not only our employees but also to the temporary employees and contract employees working in our company aiming to ensure the health and safety of those individuals and their families.
Based on government policies, we at the Group in Japan began work-site vaccinations in fiscal 2021. A total of 7,854 employees and persons related to the Group received two vaccinations, with 5,634 receiving a third.
Maintaining and promoting the health of all employees, demonstrating creativity, and improving productivity are all connected to creating sustainable growth for both individuals and the company, and therefore we are working to reform work styles.
[Target Indicators]
Total actual working hours
[Target]
Continuing to improve the productivity of employees working a total of 1,800-hour level
[Implementation]
Group employees worked an average of 1,910 hours in fiscal 2022, slightly over of the target level of 1,800 to 1,899 hours. On the other hand, the global recovery in demand and the shortage of parts and materials led to an increased sense of busyness during the year, particularly in the sales and production departments. As each department continued efforts to improve productivity, total working hours did not experience a significant rebound and improved steadily compared to previous years.
- Total actual working hours: 2,009 hrs in FY2014 to 1,910 hrs in FY2022
- OMRON Group companies in Japan
[Details of Initiatives]
We at OMRON are promoting flexible work styles, and from 2010 have been taking measures such as setting no overtime days, and having five consecutive paid holidays. From 2015, we have been further developing these initiatives, launching the following measures;
In order to make a reality the innovation driven by social needs as in the OMRON Principles, it is important that we create a work environment in which employees can have a good work-life balance, and enjoy their work. Looking forward, we will continue to make improvements in work styles.
We at OMRON actively promote disease prevention and health improvement through Collabo-health, or joint projects with health insurance societies. Cancer screening* has been introduced to regular health checkups to improve the examination rate. In addition, beginning in fiscal 2022, we introduced a healthcare platform that enables employees to utilize their health examination information and other relevant data to promote effective prevention and health promotion. This has led to improved health behavior, as well as analysis of health data such as health examinations, medical claims data, and employee surveys.
In every region, the OMRON Group (overseas) promotes health improvement, providing content to raise health awareness among employees, including events for employees tied to exercise, mental health, nutrition, smoking cessation, and sleep. In fiscal 2023, we held a challenge to achieve calorie consumption and step count targets using a health app along with a group walking event at the Chinese regional headquarter. This event raised employee awareness of exercise and had the additional effect of increasing department cohesion. In the Asia-Pacific area, we improved health literacy through wellness talk and running events, which contributed to higher employee satisfaction. Similarly, in Korea, Europe, and the Americas, the health management personnel at regional headquarters take the lead in promoting initiatives tailored to the health needs of employees.
We place a high priority on employee mental health as a common global activity. We pursue unique initiatives for our employees, including educational content related to mental health and the availability of a counseling service.
OMRON holds regular liaison meetings with on-site partner companies to which we outsource services to provide information and exchange opinions on health and productivity management initiatives.
We also invite business partners’ employees to participate in health-related and other events to support their health and productivity management initiatives.
Five group companies, including OMRON Corporation, have been recognized as an Outstanding Listed Enterprises Engaged in Health and Productivity Management (White 500) enterprise by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). The White 500 program recognizes companies that are committed to health management. OMRON Corporation and OMRON Healthcare have been recognized for an eighth consecutive year. OMRON Social Solutions received the recognition for a third consecutive year. OMRON Expert Link Corporation and OMRON Taiyo were certified in the large enterprise and small- and medium-sized enterprise category, respectively, for a fourth consecutive year.
OMRON Corporation, OMRON Healthcare, and OMRON Expert Link have been recognized by the Sports Agency as Sports Yell Companies for 2024 for their active efforts to implement sports as a means to promote employee health. OMRON Corporation and OMRON Healthcare were awarded Bronze status as companies that have been recognized five or more times.
The entire Group in Japan has been working to establish exercise habits through app-integrated walking and fun-run events, encouraging sports activities through participation in the Kyoto Marathon (cosponsored by OMRON), and by improving office environments to encourage breaks from long hours of sitting. We have been praised from various corners for our efforts in this area.